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10 Year Anniversary

February 22, 2017

In 2007, a friend asked me for some help on a custom software project. This project started after hours and Green Mango’s story began. I chose the name as something that people would recognize as a software company. I also wanted something that would be a little whimsy and make me smile whenever I said it. In preparation for our tenth year we went through a re-branding project recently. During that process, we as a team talked about changing our name. All things considered, we ultimately realized it represented us well and we plan to keep it for the our centennial anniversary.

From the beginning of Green Mango, I was 100% a software engineer. My focus was always on just building great software and letting the results speak for themselves. That led us as a team on a lot of great adventures in ten years. Looking back, I can honestly say we have never had an unhappy client and we have never had a down year. Throughout those years customers have often been blown away at our nonexistent web presence. How can a company who develops software for mobile and web not have a website? The truth is, we always prioritized client work over marketing and we just never found the time to spend on it.

I’m always surprised at how unusual our story is looking back from our anniversary. For instance, when I research other software development companies in the LA and Orange County area, I find they are commonly founded by a business person instead of an experienced software engineer. The truth is, a lot of our competitors are more focused on marketing fluff and pretty websites. They are on the craft of great software. Don’t get me wrong, I have a thorough understanding and appreciation for the art of sales and marketing and they have their place in our business. Nevertheless, I believe the DNA of a top software development company should be deep software engineering skill and experience all the way to the top.

I don’t envy someone who is tasked with finding the right development company for a potential project. The problem is pretty online websites and flashy twitter accounts don’t tell you anything about the results a company will achieve for you. About half of our projects come in as partially completed projects after the first team was fired. This presents the scariest fact of all about building software: The biggest danger isn’t spending more than you planned; it’s spending more than you planned, and never getting the project done at all. For that reason, relationships and trust will continue to be a cornerstone of everything we do.

Incidentally, it took us a lot longer than other software development companies to get to the size we have. I like to believe our foundation is more solid because of the way we got here: Doing the best we can for our clients every day. Due to this, we’re hardly ever looking up to see what anyone else was doing.

Our 10th year anniversary of business is upon us

We’re creating our new web presence in a lot of ways for the first time. It’s an exciting time at Green Mango! I truly believe that great work, our life’s best work, is upon us. I hope you’ll join us in celebrating give us a ring next time you need our help.